2022 Season Series #30 | Guardians @ White Sox | July 22-24, 2022 (Start of second half)

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The second half gets underway with A.L. Central tightly bunched. The Guardians trail the Twins by two games (but none in the loss column) and the White Sox are three games out. The G’s start with an 11-game road trip to Chicago, Boston and Tampa which may have a lot to say about whether they are buyers or sellers at the trade deadline and how aggressive they will be.

The G’s will play Friday night, a doubleheader on Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Quantrill, McKenzie, and Bieber will start for the G’s. No starter has been announced for the nightcap Saturday. Maybe Xavion Curry? The White Sox kill lefties so Pilkington may not be the best choice although he held them to 3 earned runs in 5 innings his last time out.

The Sox are 46-46 overall but have struggled at home with a record of 19-25. They also have had problems with the Guardians, going 3-6 against them. However, since April but these teams are 3-3.

The Sox are on a roll, having won 5 of their last 6 (against Cleveland and Minnesota) and outscoring them 41-11. They finished the first half in a very impressive fashion.

Both teams are average offensively, ranking 15th and 16th in runs per game with a wRC+ of 99. But for some reason the White Sox don’t hit well at home. Their home line is .239/.663 while on the road they hit .272/.725 - a huge difference. Hopefully that will continue this weekend.

Also, the Sox destroy left-handed pitching (.285/.792) while hitting just .250/.672 against righties. So if you want to limit the White Sox scoring it’s best to play them in Chicago with a right-handed pitcher starting, which is what we will have in three of the four games and maybe all four depending on who pitches Saturday night. I doubt we’ll have a bullpen game since we’re playing 11 games in 10 days.

The Sox are tied for last in walks but are third in batting average. They swing aggressively and hit line drives. But because they rarely walk they are just 19th in on-base percentage. They’re 24th in home runs per game, so they score mainly by stringing hits together as opposed to the walk/home run route.

Jose Abreu is wrecking the league, hitting .386/.979 in July. Luis Robert is hitting .328/.967 and Andrew Vaughn .281/.798 in July. Robert is hitting .393 against the G’s this year, but he is listed as day-to-day so maybe he’ll miss a couple of these games.

The White Sox are just below average in team ERA and Fangraphs ranks them 28th in defense. The Guardians rank 5th in team defense, so in a close game defense could be the difference. The Guardians have already scored something like 10-12 unearned runs against the Sox in nine games.

Lucas Giolito, the ultimate Guardian killer, faces Quantrill tonight. Gio has allowed just one earned run in 13.1 innings against Cleveland this year. Over the last 3.5 seasons Giolito has an ERA of 0.82 in 10 starts against the Guardians. For some reason the G’s are simply helpless against this guy.

Against the rest of baseball this season Giolito has a 5.40 ERA. Against the Guardians it’s 0.68. Last year in three starts it was 0.49. He absolutely owns the Guardians. It defies explanation, especially since the G’s hit righties better than lefties.

Quantrill has started two games against the Sox this year, allowing four runs in each start, going 6.0 and 6.1 innings. They have 17 hits against him in 12.1 innings despite not hitting right-handed pitching very well. Cal needs to figure out a way to do better against this team.

The big matchup will be Sunday with Bieber vs. Cease. Runs will be tough to come by in that one.

 

[macbdog]

Must win series.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

This series is really going to challenge the Guardians offense. As I noted, Giolito has been all but unhittable by the Indians/Guardians the last 3.5 years with a 0.82 ERA over that time frame.

Johnny Cueto, who will start one of the Saturday games, got a late start but since returning from injury in mid-May has limited opponents to three runs or less in 11 of his 12 starts. His season ERA is 2.80 and he has allowed just three earned runs in his last three starts.

Dylan Cease is 9-4, 2.15, and has allowed an astonishing 3 earned runs in his last 10 starts, covering 58 innings. That's an ERA of 0.46 over his last 10 starts this year.

Lance Lynn has really been hit hard since coming back from his injury. He's allowed 19 runs in his last three starts, including 8 against the Guardians on July 11.

So three of the four White Sox starters this weekend have been extremely good lately, and you never know when Lynn is going to figure it out. The Guardians are going to need great pitching, both starting and relief, clutch hitting, and some key defensive lapses by the White Sox to emerge from this weekend with a series win or even a tie.

The fact that the Sox don't hit nearly as well at home and don't hit as well against RHP's should help the Guardians' pitchers to keep the score down and give the G's a chance to win late. They need to run up the pitch counts of Giolito, Cueto, and Cease to get to the Sox bullpen as early as possible.

The Sox have a good bullpen - they rank 7th in FIP by Fangraphs, but they're 19th in ERA, probably due to substandard defensive support.

 

[eChameleon]

Reminder, all you need to watch tonight's game is an Apple account. It's free. No subscriptions needed. No iOS device needed.

 

[Gson]

Reminder, all you need to watch tonight's game is an Apple account. It's free. No subscriptions needed. No iOS device needed.

the last time an "Apple +" account was needed.. no subscription.. no iOS device..etc..etc.. the account application would not recognize ANY password (new old and other) as being valid due to strength of the password.. IOW.. pure bullshit...

Adage to live by: If a business wants to put up roadblocks to access what they're selling, they're going to get the chance to keep what they're selling..

 

[eChameleon]

the last time an "Apple +" account was needed.. no subscription.. no iOS device..etc..etc.. the account application would not recognize ANY password (new old and other) as being valid due to strength of the password.. IOW.. pure bullshit...

Adage to live by: If a business wants to put up roadblocks to access what they're selling, they're going to get the chance to keep what they're selling..

You're telling lies. I simply have an Apple account, and I watched the game without issues on my smart TV.
The roadblocks are all imaginary and in your head.

 

[buzzdog]

You're telling lies. I simply have an Apple account, and I watched the game without issues on my smart TV.
The roadblocks are all imaginary and in your head.

I can't get into any Apple account. Apparently I registered for one many years ago for work purposes at a job I no longer have and I no longer recall my user name or password. Despite trying to jump through every hoop to re-establish those, Apple just took me around in circles until it became obvious it's pretty much impossible for me to get in unless I somehow remember exact the user name and password from who-knows-how-long ago.

So although it might work for you (especially if you're an Apple person, personally I think they're shiite) it isn't so easy for everyone.

 

[Ezvictor]

I don’t want to register for some more BS.
PASS
Ballys app won’t have it either.
Guess the wife and I will be patronizing a bar. As if this jerk needed a reason. Lol

 

[buzzdog]

And, FWIW, I can get into any other type of streaming or app EXCEPT Apple, they're truly fucked for me.

 

[CATS44]

With the FO needing to make sound decisions in less than two weeks, this series with Chicago is esp important.

Schedule wise, Chicago has a very easy one the rest of the way. To overcome that, the Guards are gonna have to use head to head to make up...or gain...ground on the White Sox and Twins....starting tonight.

 

[sportscoach]

@Wham with the Right Hand

It will likely be McCarty for the double header since Civale is hurt.

I would think Battenfield is the next man up, but with the fact Morris has to be added in Aug to the 40 man they aren't going to put Battenfield on the 40 man roster just yet. Once the trade deadline passes, I think we will have at least a minor roster change.

 

[Real Deal]

Any roster changes coming? OGon was set to return

 

[sportscoach]

Any roster changes coming? OGon was set to return

I believe they can give OGonz some rehab assignments so they just may...

 

[Gson]

You're telling lies. I simply have an Apple account, and I watched the game without issues on my smart TV.
The roadblocks are all imaginary and in your head.

no imagination.. nice to see you've passed the Eye Dee Ten Test..

 

[xmasbuck]

@Wham with the Right Hand

It will likely be McCarty for the double header since Civale is hurt.

I would think Battenfield is the next man up, but with the fact Morris has to be added in Aug to the 40 man they aren't going to put Battenfield on the 40 man roster just yet. Once the trade deadline passes, I think we will have at least a minor roster change.

you'd think the cleveland pitching factory could do better than pilkington and mccarty as our #6 and 7 starters